


No One Requested A Do-Over

by foxkidd



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Yandere high school
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Anxiety Attacks, Hermits are mentioned - Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Panic Attacks, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, the major character death isn't permanent don't worry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:00:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26711071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxkidd/pseuds/foxkidd
Summary: When Grian wakes up at the beginning of his time in Yandere High School with his memories of this time intact, not only does he have to figure out how to get back to his actual home but also why he was sent back in the first place.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 93





	1. Prologue - Lingering

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to No One Requested A Do-Over, another Griangst fic :D This is just the prologue so it's a little short but I hope you stick around for chapter 1 and don't worry there's a happy ending for the pesky bird! I'm gonna try to update either every Monday or Tuesday or every other Mon/Tues. I haven't watched all of YHS so I hope I'm not too ooc with the other YHS characters ;w; In Hermit timeline, this takes place when Grian is first building his mansion in the Upsidedown since that's when I started writing it.

The Nether was an interesting place to build, that was for sure. The sulfer smell was harsh and the constant danger of falling into lava wasn’t ideal for beginners; it was even a challenge for experienced players. A Ghast threatened to fireball a certain red-sweatered man as he flew back up to the top (er, bottom?) of his Upside down mansion, Grian had been trying to avoid the thing for a while. It was mostly minding it’s own business, unless he flew too close to it, plus he didn’t feel like dealing with the thing anyway. He was in it’s territory anyway.

Grian landed on one of the platforms, placing the few missing blocks that he accidentally forgot, then wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Alright, I think that’s enough heat for one day, thank you very much,” he muttered to himself before turning and going rigid.

The Ghast floated directly in front of him. It’s eyes glowed a deadly red, its mouth starting to form the fireball that would definitely destroy his work and possibly kill him as well. “Nope!” His drawn out yelp filled the air as he hopped off the platform, opened his trusty wings, and spammed rockets to get away before it erupted. It’s sharp cry rang out after him as he raced away. He landed on the other side of the cliffs that faced his mansion. Now that the intruder was out of it’s territory, the Ghast calmed and drifted lazily about. Grian breathed a sigh of relief, he hadn’t felt like fighting the thing today, then jumped into flight again.

“Oh my gosh, that was close, no more squid boys for a while, thank you,” he said to himself as he flew away. It was about time he made his way out of the Nether anyway. He'd been there for a while, he was sure a few Overworld days at least. So it was definitely time for a break from the fire and feelings of doom that the Nether constantly gave him. Grian took off down the tunnel towards his portal and back to the safety of his Overworld mansion's portal. Relief spread through his face as he waited to be teleported back. The familiar tingling sensation of portal travel caught on his red sweater and left small purple sparks that tried to cling to the fabric as the man once again took flight to get back up to the actual mansion. What a sight it was. He hovered in the air before going to the absolute top of the stairs where he could just sit a few moments and look out over everything.

The Hermit infested jungle was beautiful at this time. The sunset cast an orange glow across the trees and seemed to make the nearby lake shine. Grian sat there until the sun completely went down, just taking in all the hard work his neighbors have done this season. Scar’s village was beautiful, Iskall’s omega tree was absolutely awesome, and he was so proud of how Mumbo’s base was coming along. He stood up and looked to his own masterpiece, a grin spread across his face. He’s proud of what he’s made with the Hermits. Since he joined them, he’s grown as a builder and made so many good friends. It's helped with forgetting too. 

With another quick glance at the surrounding forest, Grian flew down to the actual entrance and landed inside. It was quiet in the mansion which told Grian that the villagers that lived in his mansion had packed up their own stalls and went to bed for the day. Yet, something strange caught his eye as he passed by those stalls in his trade hall. It turned out that one was still awake. He sat at a station and regarded Grian curiously but silently. But what was even more curious was what he was wearing.

“Huh... Scar,” Grian regarded the mask with an apprehensive chuckle as he made his accusation to the air, “did you put another mob head on one of my villagers?”

The villager simply looked at him through the eye holes on the rabbit mask. It blinked at him once, twice, and now Grian felt awkward for staring at it. But he couldn't help it. He could've sworn that the ears flicked by themselves. Mob heads never did that. The rabbit mask was way too familiar for his liking; it roused memories that he never thought of anymore. A certain rabbit boy that ruined his childhood with blood and knives. One that continued to taunt him in his dreams. Grian shook his head, shaking those memories away as well, and subconsciously rubbed at his arm. No, the last few days were really good days and he got a lot done, he wasn’t about to go strolling down a deadly memory lane again. If he did, he knew he wouldn’t sleep tonight, or tomorrow night either for that matter. He tore his eyes away from that wretched mask, sighing a shaky heavy sigh to himself, before heading down towards his bed. He planned on giving that village a much better mask in the morning. 

Instead of thinking about the past, he looked towards the future of the server. Grian laid in bed, staring at the high ceiling of his base for a bit thinking about the Upside Down. About how excited he was for his nether neighbors to join him. About all of the amazing builds that would join his mansion in the coming weeks. About this server in general. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy and he slowly fell into sleep.


	2. Welcome Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I didn't have dnd today, I thought I'd drop the new chapter a day earlier than planned ;D Thank you for all your wonderful comments and kudos, I really appreciate them! Enjoy!

With a simple slip of his hand, Grian woke to the feeling of his chin smacking hard against a window. He let out a quick yelp and sat up, eyes instantly open. An uncomfortable feeling ached through his bones from his previous sleeping position. Sleep still held onto his mind as well which is why it took him a bit longer to realize where he was exactly. The only thing his groggy mind could think was.

Wait, am I… In a bus?

He stretched his arms in an attempt to try to clear that uncomfortable feeling of sleep. Now that he was awake and paying attention to his surroundings, the feeling of deja vu hit Grian as hard as he had hit the window. Which still really hurt. He rubbed the pained spot as he thought about how there was also something about this bus that was awfully familiar but he really couldn’t put his finger on the reason. 

He wasn’t only in a different place. His clothes had been changed. Instead of his usual red sweater, he wore a white tank top and red shorts. Which was what he typically wore during beach days in high school.

An awful realization hit him, making him feel nauseous. “No, no, no, c’mon Grian, this is just a prank,” he tried to reason with himself in a soft voice, “someone’s… Someone’s gotta be messing with you. They moved your bed! Not the first time that the boys have done that to you. Mumbo or Iskall or  _ someone _ is gonna pop out to try and scare you” He took a few deep breaths before standing up to call out for this prankster. 

A voice from the front caught his attention before he was able to. 

“Kid, sit down!” the voice, which strangely sounded like he was speaking underwater, said from the front, “for the last time, ya’ can’t stand on this bus!” 

“P-Pufferfish Pete?” Grian stammered, staring in bewilderment at the fishman.

The pufferfish man sighed, “yes, yes, what is it? I told ya’, I’m not stopping again, we’re almost to the school.”

“Uh, no-nothing, never mind,” Grian replied quickly, his voice pitching a few octaves higher, and hurried to sit back down only to curl into himself on the seat. He could feel his breathing speed up and that nauseous feeling returned. Time also seemed to slow down and nothing felt real. No, ok, no, that does it, this wasn’t a prank it’s a dream. Of course it’s a dream he just fell asleep and this is happening? Yep it’s a dream. He’s had tons of high school related dreams before. Though, there hadn’t been one in a while. It must’ve been that cursed rabbit mask. He knew it would cause something to bubble up the moment he laid eyes on it. Grian took a few more deep breaths. He uncurled from holding himself to clutch at the gross leather of the bus seat.

Even with his self-reassurance, it took him a bit to calm down. The boy spent the rest of the drive looking out the window at scenery that was so distant in his memories that it was equally as familiar as it was not. The growing feeling of Deja Vu circling in his head. It was strange, thinking about being there again. He hadn’t had a high school related dream since joining the hermits since everything was so distracting. It helped that no one knew of his past.

Most importantly, however, was the thought of what his mind will remember of his old classmates. He actually felt excited to see most of them, especially Taurtis (mostly Taurtis), but seeing Sam again made his head dizzy. Since this is a dream after all, he was sure that he’d be turned into an even worse monster than he remembered him.

The bus pulled past the market where some of the other students were wandering past. All dressed in swimsuits and other gear and excited for the beach. It brought a smile to his face but he didn’t get out yet to say hi to his old friends because Grian could already hear Sam outside the bus now. Doing what he loved the most; making fun of people. He only peeked out the window, regretting every life decision that brought him here, then sighed and moved to get out.

"I think I see him right there," Sam said to Taurtis once he was done messing with Hidden, "hey Gri-on!" 

"er... Hey, guys?” Grian unenthusiastically said. He looked between the two. Taurtis was, of course, as he remembered. But, so was Sam, not a scary monster concocted by his unconsciousness. Nevertheless, the rabbit eared boy was still scary. 

The pair seemed to sense his apprehension. They shared a look before Taurtis gave a smile and patted Grian on the shoulder, “hey dude, everything okay?” 

Grian gave him a small grin at his old pal but didn’t quite get to answer. “Oh I may have greeted him wrong, that’s probably it” Sam interrupted causing Grian’s smile to vanish, “I should say!” Sam leaned towards him, his hands roughly waving Grian back and forth by the shoulders then loudly said in a mocking fake ‘British’ accent, “top o’ the mornin’ Gri-on!!” 

“Sam!” Grian yelped, “what are you doing, cut it out!”

Grian stood back from the rabbit boy as he did his mocking bit. Taurtis looked at Grian, concerned for a moment, but eventually joined in himself. It was strange that Grian remembered this happening and could see it happen again. He remembered it being more endearing than this feeling of annoyance and anger that he felt now. 

Sam stopped and stared at Grian. He cocked his head to one side and said, “we’re trying to communicate with you Gri-on, that’s how you speak in your language right?” 

“No, no no, we say hello like everyone else,” Grian said with a sigh then, to try to stop them from doing it again, he added, “we definitely don’t run around saying bollocks all the time like you were doing either.” 

Sam rolled his eyes playfully. He threw his arm around Grian’s shoulders. “Oh come on, it’s just banter, we’re hip!” 

“Yeah we’ve been studying Rosetta Stone,” Taurtis added, coming up on Grian’s other side, “how to learn English!” 

Sam laughed and used his arm around Grian to jab at Taurtis’ shoulder. “Pff, yeah, Taurtis and I’ve been sharing to learn to speak British!” The pair turned to giggling at each other again while Grian stood in the middle with his rather annoyed look. He may as well go with it.

“Wow,” he replied, unimpressed, “I didn’t know that existed.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s a thing, it’s a thing,” Sam replied as he took his arm back from Grian’s shoulders, “Paul Blart’s friends sold it to us.” He looked around quickly. The man in question was, in fact, nearby which made Sam hurry over to the wall and wave. “Thanks Paul Blart for that Rosetta Stone account!” 

After Paul nodded to Sam and waved him off, the rabbit boy turned back to Grian. “You know, it cost a lot of money so you better appreciate this, okay? It cost like,” he paused to think of an amount that sounded correct, “a couple hundred dollars.” Nailed it.

“Alright then uh, I’ll uh, make sure to correct you if you pronounce something wrong?” Grian said with a slight grimace. This was still weird but he was getting a bit used to the constant feeling of Deja Vu. It was as if he was just repeating the same responses he’d said then.

Sam and Taurtis didn’t seem to notice any of this as they continued their act. Sam started back again with, “So, uh, tip tip to the morning to you,” and bowed with a flourish, “and then you bow right?” 

“Er… No, no, I’m no king, or queen for that matter,” Grian replied, slipping from his ruse and actually laughing, “neither of you have to bow.”

“Can I bow anyways?”

“Uh… Sure, Sam, you can do that.” Grian bowed himself and said, “and I too will bow back!” 

This caused Sam to jump up onto his toes. The boy bounced up and down on his tip toes and waved at Taurtis. “Oh, see this is their customs, Taurtis!” 

“So interesting,” Taurtis agreed with a very interested and convincing nod.

“So inter-,” Sam cut himself off as he thought his words through, “-Fascinating, these cultures.” He walked in a circle around Grian, seeming to eye him up. It made Grian nervous again; as if a predator was stalking prey. “It looks like you got a bit of a tan. More orange than Taurtis.” 

Grian cleared his throat and stuttered a bit. Sam’s staring still digging into his skin. What were they doing again today? Oh! Beach day, right he was wearing his swimwear. “Well… You told me we were going swimming,” he stammered, trying to sound convincing, “so, uh, I decided to get a tan before getting here. Cause, y’know, we don’t actually, uh, get a lot of sun where I live… So-” he drew out the ‘oh’s’ for a moment before shrugging and looking about himself. “Is it natural-looking?” 

Sam just laughed and repeated, “you’re more orange than Taurtis!” 

“Oh… I’m not that orange!” 

“You’re pretty orange. Look at me compared to you Taurtis!” 

Grian chuckled as he watched the pair compare their arms. They seemed to be holding back their bickering since Grian interrupted with “Yeah, Sam hasn’t been outside in weeks, right?” 

They all shared a laugh at Grian’s comment. Sam had a rebuttal but it only fell on Taurtis’ ears as Grian noticed something past them. Why was Ellen there? 

Grian actually had fond memories of the beach day, it was the time before Sam snapped completely, and honestly it was the best time in their friendship. But he never remembered Ellen during their bickering at the bus stop. The first time they met, she was selling fortunes at her booth near the beach. Grian caught himself before he could say anything but he realized that Sam and Taurtis were looking at him funny. Taurtis looked behind them but it was too late, Ellen had slipped inside the mart and he had missed her.

Taurtis quickly looked back to his friend. “Dude, you okay, you look like you saw a ghost?” 

“Oh, he probably did,” Sam interrupted before Grian could speak, “our school’s haunted Grian.” 

Grian sighed and rolled his eyes as he said, “no, no, it was no ghost or anything of the sort. Just Ellen.” He regretted saying that instantly. C’mon Gri, you hadn’t met Ellen yet! He thought to himself.

It seemed that the two hadn’t caught on yet though. They both turned towards the mart. Sam took the initiative and headed that way, saying, “oh Ellen’s here? I thought she’d be at the beach already, we’re a little late cause we were waiting for you to get here Gri-on, c’mon let’s go say hey! We can get some snacks too.” Grian hesitated. The feeling of something being wrong rushed through his thoughts, but after Taurtis gave him a reassuring smile and waited for him, he hurried to follow. 

The store was just as he remembered it. Though, a bit more empty than usual, there wasn’t even anyone at the register. Ellen wasn’t in the front of the store but Sam and Taurtis got distracted again as they started to play shop. Sam looked over to Grian as Taurtis stood at the register, a grin on his face. “Gri-on, you wanna buy anything, I’ll even spot ya’?”

“Oh, uh, I’m just gonna look around, I think,” Grian replied, looking around quickly, “don’t worry about me!” He walked to the back of the store while the pair stayed up front goofing around. He could’ve sworn that he saw Ellen but-

Grian almost jumped out of his skin as he felt a hand lay on his shoulder. Spinning around, there was Ellen. Grian let out a sigh of relief, “I knew I saw you, I thought that I-”

Ellen shushed him. Her eye drifted over to where they left Sam and Taurtis. After a moment, she whispered, “don’t speak so loudly Grian. I need to talk to you, it’s urgent.”

“Okay…” Grian mumbled nervously. She had an intense, unsettling, look about her. “Er, you have my full attention.”

“Good, what I’m about to tell you is… Has been… Really confusing me for the past few days; the spirits have been upset.” She took a deep breath and carded a hand through her hair to steady herself. “They’ve been telling me things, whispers of information that I can’t understand,” She paused, letting the information process in her own mind before starting again. “I know you woke up on that bus with memories already formed of this timeline” At his silent nod, she continued with, “it just confirms that their whispers are true. You don’t belong here Grian and whatever this… This... Hermitcraft is? It’s in danger.” 


	3. Sandcastles and Sad Hours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Hey guys, I’m real happy with how this chapter turned out, the angst starts in this one as does the change in rating.  
> TW: Mention of a suicide, disassociation, a description of an anxiety attack, and multiple deaths.

“This… This isn’t a dream…” Grian mumbled, not quite believing what the girl was saying, as he stared Ellen down. She shook her head slowly. “And…” A pause, “and all my friends, Mumbo, Iskall, X, all of my family, are in danger?” The words spilled from his mouth frantically. He wasn’t sure if he believed it but Ellen just nodded her head at him again. This couldn’t be happening, right? It’s been ages since he’d even seen Sam, if he was gonna do anything, he would’ve done it by now, right? Grian could feel his breath speed up with his tumbling words, his eyes couldn’t focus, and his hands felt sweaty. “What do you mean they’re all in danger?” He suddenly whisper-yelled as he clutched at his head in both disbelief and fear.

Ellen frowned slightly. She gently took his hands from his head and held them in her own. “I know it’s confusing. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, the spirits can only tell me so much, but I know you won’t be alone. You have a long journey ahead of you, Grian.”

Grian took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I know, you told me the first time.” 

“You should get back to them, we still need to preserve this timeline as best we can until we can figure out how to get you back to your actual timeline, oh and here, take this,” She turned away to grab something from the shelf then shoved a bottle of Mountain Dew into his hands. She also fished out some money from her pocket and gave it to him as well. 

Grian took the items with a dead stare. He still didn’t feel like this was real, like it should still be a dream, but this wasn’t like any dream he’d had before. This was just a living nightmare. Not wanting to draw any attention to himself, he didn’t say anything as he headed back to Sam and Taurtis. Pufferfish Pete was now behind the counter and currently being yelled at in broken Japanese by the boys. They both stopped mocking him when they saw Grian return.

“Grian!” Taurtis greeted him, “found what you want?” The boy sat on the counter, kicking his feet against it, while Sam stood in front trying to balance various snacks on his head. The presence of multiple packages of doritos, pocky, and drink bottles on the ground, showed that he wasn’t doing very well. 

Grian held up the Mountain Dew and simply nodded his head. He cut in front of Sam and shoved the money that Ellen gave him towards Pete, mumbling, “Here go, Pete.” Then he shoved the bottle into his inventory, it was strange having modern items again, then turned to the boys. “Er… S-sooooo, to the beach then?”

Sam and Taurtis exchanged a glance. “Weeeeell, Gri-on, we were gonna show you our school,” Sam said as he let the chips that he was trying to balance slide off his head. 

Taurtis nodded in excitement before hopping off the counter and rushing over to Grian. He slung his arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Our school really is haunted! Like for real, dude, one of our teachers offed himself in the classroom!” He made ghost noises in Grian’s ear which only made the other boy roll his eyes and push his arm off. 

“Nope, no, I’m good guys,” Grian confirmed, “let’s just… Go to the beach, swim a little, build sand castles. No spooks.” At least no spooks right now. 

Sam just shrugged and walked out of the market with his hands behind his head. “Whatever dude, we’ll just show you when you get back for Halloween.” 

Halloween. Grian hadn’t even thought about Halloween. 

He walked behind the others, who were once again joking around as normal. His thoughts both filled and blank at the same time. Periods of vacancy made him seem expressionless to the outside world then he’d be hit with more jumbled thoughts that made his head hurt. If the boys asked him a question or made a jab his way, he was late to reply or didn’t at all. This is going to be a lot harder than he thought. He couldn’t keep pretending to not know what was going to happen if he was here during Halloween. That whole night led to too many night terrors in his future and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let it happen again. He couldn’t let his best friend almost die again.

Just as he thought, the rest of the day was as Grian remembered it. The sand castle building competition was actually fun and the building finally helped him break out of his dissociation. Then it just became annoying because of Sam trying to steal his castle. But, he made sure to keep up the rouse of this being his first time here. It was hard, there were a few times that he wanted to just push Sam into the ocean and let the sharks eat him, but he restrained himself. It was mostly because Ellen said so; he’d steal a glance at her every-so-often to remind himself. Grian supposed that she was right and they needed to keep this timeline from straying. Whatever that meant. 

As they were leaving, he couldn’t help but stare out over the ocean and think of the  Hermiatic Sea back home. He wondered if time was moving the same here as it did there. Had it only been a day missing or had he already been gone weeks? Were the other Hermits missing him by now or did they even notice he was gone?

“Gri-on? Griiii-on?” Sam’s voice broke him out of his current daze. He felt a hand clap onto his shoulder.

Grian jumped and turned to Sam in panic. “Oh, uh, y-yeah?” 

Sam laughed, “man, I scared you good Gri-on! You’ve been out of it all day.” He laughed a bit more which just made Grian more uncomfortable, “I was just asking if you wanted us to drop you off at your bus, dude?”

“Right, uh, yes,” Grian said, clapping his hands together, “I do indeed have a four day journey home, don’t I?” He started up the stairs, casting one last glance at the ocean, before saying, “I was only here a few hours but it’s already felt like a year.”

“I thought it was a year,” Taurtis asked, trying to catch up to the others.

“Doesn’t matter how much time has passed,” Grian said as he walked beside Taurtis, “I’m ready to hit the road, it was a fun day boys!” 

\-------------------------

Grian didn’t actually go home. It would be a waste of time to actually go all the way back to a ‘home’ where he wasn’t wanted. This time, at least, he wouldn’t be  _ their  _ punching bag either or have to hide bruises during Halloween.

After Sam and Taurtis left him at the bus stop, Grian stopped Pufferfish Pete from actually leaving so he could wait and watch the boys head back home. He left the bus and wandered, making sure to avoid Sam and Taurtis’ house. He had to figure out how to get back to Hermitcraft but it was difficult here. There was no elytra to help him travel, no way to contact his friends, and no building materials readily available to him. Things worked differently in this world, punching a tree for wood just gave you bruised knuckles and stares from passersby. So for now, he was stuck.

The time-stuck boy never noticed that the sun had set or when the moon rose high above. He just continued to walk, unaware of his surroundings. 

In an alley just barely lit by the street lights, legs exhausted, and cold from the night’s new chill was where Grian finally broke down. It seemed to start slow but really happened fast. Thoughts bubbled in his head which caused soft tears to form in his eyes. They grew and grew until fat, warm tears sped down his cheeks. He stumbled in the low light, his back suddenly hitting a wall, then slowly he slid down until he was in a fetal position. The wall supported him as he clutched desperately at his legs and let out sob after sob then a blood curdling scream wrecked his throat. 

_ This isn’t fair! Just when I finally find a home where I belong, people who I can call my family, I’m ripped away from it by the very thing that I hide from! I’m not gonna be able to do this! I can’t, I can’t, I c- _

“Hey, who’s… Oh my god, Grian, is that you!?”

The sound of someone running down the alley towards him made Grian curl up tighter. Soon, he felt their presence kneel in front of him. Soft, careful hands rested on his shoulder which only made him whimper and scoot away. “G-go away,” he managed to croak out, “I-I don’t… I don’t wa-want to talk.” Curious at who would come to support him, he peeked out from under his arms.

Kneeling beside him, with concern all over his features, was Domrao. “Hey, listen, I understand that you don’t wanna talk but…” he seemed to search for the right words, eyes flicking about, “You shouldn’t be in this alley by yourself, it could be dangerous. Plus I thought you went back home?”

Grian let out a shaky sigh. He wouldn’t be able to get out of talking to Dom was he? He stayed in his curled up position but mumbled, “I couldn’t go back.” It was all he could say. However, Dom understood. The other boy slowly, to make sure it was okay and not make him uncomfortable, sat beside Grian and gently rubbed his back. They stayed that way until Grian seemed to calm down. He went back and forth between held back sobs and quiet unsteady breaths until all he did was hiccup quietly.

“It’s really late, Grian.” Dom finally said, still rubbing the other’s back. “Why don’t you come home with me? Get some sleep in a warm bed, a nice meal, it’ll be good for you”

Grian hesitated, using the moment to actually uncurl himself and lean onto Dom’s shoulder. “Didn’t your dad…”  _ Kick you out too  _ was how he was going to end that sentence but he quickly changed course as he realized that wouldn’t happen for at least a few months. Instead he covered his blunder with a cough and said, “I mean, isn’t your dad, like, terrible?”

Domrao sighed, rolling his eyes, and replied, “yeah, heard that from Sam and Taurtis, huh? I can sneak you in though, and he won’t even know you're there. He works a lot and I’ve done it plenty of times. How do you think I’m out here right now?” He gave a smile, a final pat on Grian’s back then slowly stood and held out his hand.

The builder hesitated for a moment. If he went with Dom now, how would it affect this timeline? Could he ruin Dom’s relationship with his father even more? What about Taurtis and Sam? With so many more thoughts in his head, Grian took a deep breath then clapped his hand into Dom’s, letting him hoist him from the ground. If he was gonna get back home and defend Hermitcraft, this would be where he started. “I promise, everything’s gonna be okay,” Dom told him, keeping his firm grip on his hand, then led the pair out of the alley.

Grian only nodded, feeling a bit better than before because of Domrao, but still stayed quiet and let him ramble as they walked down the street. Once they were at Dom’s house, he hurried them up to his room before excusing himself and quickly but quietly bolted to the kitchen. He was back a moment later with some pizza and a bottle of water. “Hope you’re okay with this, we don’t really have much right now, dad’s gotta get groceries,” a pause, “or he’ll make me do it, I dunno.” 

“Thanks,” Grian accepted with a grateful nod.

As he ate, Dom made up his bed for them to sleep by tossing extra pillows and blankets to make it as comfortable as possible. He gave Grian a set of pajamas (“Sorry they’re kinda... terrible, these are my old ones.”) and showed him where the bathroom was. 

The ordeal that was today had exhausted Grian. His eyes and throat hurt. As soon as he laid down and Dom had turned the light off, he was basically out. He let his tired gaze drift to Dom and he mumbled a soft, “Thank you.” To which Dom only grinned and made a soft noise of affirmation. They were out a few minutes later.

\-------------------------

While Dom’s kindness and the plush bed comforted Grian’s sleep, his dreams were full of terror. Sam held a knife against Mumbo’s throat. He saw dark patches staining his friend’s suit but he couldn’t tell if that was blood or redstone. Grian tried desperately to yell for help, to get Sam to stop but he couldn’t move. His mouth wouldn’t open.

Mumbo’s body fell. Then Iskall’s topled on top of him. Then Scar’s followed. One by one, he was forced to watch Sam kill every Hermit. There went False. Rendog. Bdubs. Each one trying to fight or reaching for Grian to help them. 

Stress actually managed to slip from Sam’s grip. She ran to Grian and grabbed at his sweater, pleading for his help to stop this mad man, but he still couldn’t move. Stress turned back quickly, far too late for her. The knife dug deep in her stomach before being yanked out.

Xisuma was the last to go. He’d fought valiantly and with more determination than Grian had ever seen. They locked eyes. Grian could see X’s face under his helmet contort to anger.

“We trusted you, Grian!”

\-------------------------

Birdsong woke him like an alarm. Grian’s eyes fluttered open to see a little songbird sitting at the nearby window, it fluttered off quickly after, but he was awake now nonetheless. The nightmare he was having was gone and now he couldn’t even remember what it was. Dreams are strange like that. He sat up and stretched with a groan. 

Looking around the room, he noticed Dom wasn’t here. That made him rather nervous. On Dom’s side of the bed, there was a bedside table that held a clock which politely informed him that it was 1:37 PM. Beside the clock was an open notebook, turned to a page, a pencil, and a framed, old photo of a younger Dom and his parents. He reached over, took the notebook, and read the scrawled note: 

_ morning, Grian! had to get to school and dad’s at work. i’ll get home at 3:30 and he’ll be back later so you get the run of the house until I’m home. take anything you want from the fridge, there’s still pizza left, just make yourself at home :) - Domrao _

Right, school was a thing. 

An idea popped into Grian’s head as he held the notebook. He grabbed the pencil, turned a page, and started to write out his plan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3


End file.
